Thanks! That's why I couldn't find it last I looked, I had the wrong name for the puzzle.

If you want to go high end and exceptional quality, try Stave Puzzles. Look under Corporate and Custom. $$$$

I have their tricky Lunacy puzzle, not sure it's in production. 30+ pieces, $250 bought 25 years ago as an anniversary present. Did NOT tell my wife about the cost so we are still married.

Brian

Thanks. Also going over Feb 12 but was wondering if I needed a D as well but will just stick with the G I have.

One of my favorites from Ashburnham, MA quickly snapped with iPhone...

Check with Alex deVries. He does custom excursions. If he can't he'll know who can. Excellent aurora and wildlife photography, lives there, knows every area, great guy. I've been to Churchill 7 winters for the auroras out at CNSC so know him pretty well. Hoping to go up in 2023 for the CNSC birding week. If you want all kinds of info on my visits you can get back in touch. Doubt the belugas will be there that time of year - ice will still be on Hudson Bay. (CNSC is Churchill Northern Studies Centre, located at old rocket range, I'm sure any guide will get you out there)

alex.devries@hotmail.com https://www.facebook.com/alex.vriesmagnifico

Tell him Brian Friedmann sent you!

If you want to go high end then check out Stave puzzles. You can specify puzzle shapes for individual pieces, etc. But they are expensive! Some amazing trick puzzles. https://www.stavepuzzles.com/custom-jigsaw-puzzles/

Would help if you said which tour you are taking. If you are going to be doing the Tundra buggies you'll be getting up close. This might be sacrilege on this site but we got great shots from the buggy with a simple point and shoot with a 10x optical. If you are in the buggy it will be warm so you won't have to worry about the cold running down your batteries but, of course, always bring extra DOH. Expect some great videos of the bears jousting. Your coldest day will probably be on the dogsled run, stills and videos. And if you are out at CNSC (Churchill Northern Studies Centre, btw, the best bang for your buck) they have a bear-proof deck and if the weather cooperates you'll be able to get aurora shots - so bring a fast wide lens, manual exposure, tripod, and first focus on a distant star or planet (extremely important). Many tourists, for the auroras, bring a point and shoot that isn't adequate especially with the ISO and manual exposure parameters and they usually don't bring a tripod (I've left a number of them at CNSC over the years but probably all broken by now; we would go up in Feb/Mar for the auroras, much colder than you'll experience)(If you are at CNSC say Hi to Kim and Sharon for me). If you want more info get in touch. It's an incredible experience (CNSC usually gives a helicopter tour lasting about 20 minutes, not sure if that still happens in Covid times).

Ain't it the truth. Also, if you are up North shooting the auroras, the best ones come out after you go to bed. Shot at Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba - not my best one though. Note that it was shot on the night of a full moon! And the old rocket launcher in the center of the photograph.

I'm sure Alan Dyer will have some great pictures at https://amazingsky.net/ as well as his usual tips for photographing astronomical events.

I was thinking a 24mm or even 14mm which would make it easier to find. I went with 24mm. Keep trying!

You were on the right track so for this comet you really shouldn't need any device to find it especially as you could see the blur with your naked eye. You just need to start with your wide angle lens and point it towards where the blur is - if you don't get it, then adjust the camera, it sometimes takes a little trial and error but a wide angle lens with its wide field of view should be enough with a few tries to locate the comet (10-15 sec exposure, ISO 1600, 2 sec-delay or remote, for starters). Have a star/constellation guide showing you where it should be located on the night you are out so that can help position your camera relative to a constellation. Only go to a telephoto lens (if you want a comet-only pic) after you locate it with the wide angle - and then your exposure time will drop if you want to avoid star trails). (You did pre-focus on a planet, bright star, or distant light, right - my first aurora pics in Churchill were a disaster as I thought you could just put the lens on infinity). Anyways, getting the comet using the above, then adjusting specs, was all I needed to do, got some nice comet reflection in the water, too, on a calm night.

Thanks, will look for that. As an occasional caver in the Northeast it was always advisable since our caves are on the small side to be aware of the weather....especially when you could look at the "roof" of some caves and see embedded logs, styrofoam, other flotsam and jetsam! Caving is so exhilarating but do it safely. Always enjoy professional shoots from the amazing caves of the world.

Was there a number of years ago. What people said previously all correct. Yes, bring water. We were on sailboat so not sure if there were toilet facilities on shore but assume there must be. Snorkeling in the moat was great and consider doing it at night with a light. Incredible amount of plastic trash on the bird island. We also brought some six packs of beer purposely to trade for shrimp from the shrimp boats if any are in the harbor - don't ask the captain, ask some crew members: they gave the four of us so much we ended up feeding the barracuda underneath the boat. No electricity so have extra batteries, of course.

Check out Alan Dyer on Facebook. He along with Ronald Waldron do the auroras in Churchill at CNSC (Churchill Northern Studie’s Centre) and using expensive equipment got good results. But time lapse gives great results. I’ve been going up there February/March for the last 7 years for the lights doing stills and time lapse.

Make sure you take off any lens filters, focus on a distant object (star or planet) cause you want sharp stars to get best aurora pics, and use Manual.